Bale tying table



Patented Nov. 3, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIcE I BALE TYING TABLE 1George Lamb, Hoquiam, Wash. e t Application February 17, 1941, seria1No. 379,363

" .2 Olaims.- (01. 100-31) This invention relates to improvementsin baletying tables, and has reference more particularly to tables of that typeon which bales of pulp, or the like, are placedforbaling by use of wirebands.

It will be stated as explanatory to the present invention, that for manyyears it has been a common practice to locate the assembled sheets ofpulp for baling upon a flat table top that is equipped with transverseand longitudinal channels, open throughout their lengths 'to theftopsurface of the table, and through which the baling wires are projectedunder the material after it has been placed on the table. Such tables,with the open channels, have certain disadvantages, the principal one ofwhich is that in the projecting or passing of a wire along 'a channelbeneath the bale of material; its forward endis apt to and doesfrequently catch in the bale material, and to release it, it must 'be'withdrawn, turned over or twisted about. This difficulty has, in many.places, led to the substitution of longitudinally slotted tubes for thetable top channels, and to the use of wire bands, each of which, at oneend, is equipped with a helical coil of a diameter somewhat smaller thanthe inside diameter-of the tube so. that it can be passed therethroughwithout difiiculty, and which will retain the wire against passingintothe slot and catching on the bale during the operation of projecting itthrough the tubes After the coiled end portionof the'band has guided theend of the wire completely through the tube, then the band may be drawnupwardly, through the tube slot and secured about the bale.

While this use of wire bands with thepigtail end has solved the problemof the wire catching on the bale while being projected through the tube,it has disclosed an inherent disadvantage that is due to the characterof the tubewhen equipped with the narrow longitudinal slot for thepassage of the wire band when it is finally drawn upwardly and tightenedabout the bale. It will be understood that with the use of a wire guidetube of approximately one-half inch inside diameter, or larger, andequipped with a longitudinal slot approximately three-sixteenths of aninch in width, the wire band, in being drawn up tight about the bale,will very frequently catch on, or hang up on the tube wall by reason ofnot passing fully into the slot, and this hanging up of the wire can notalways be detected before the ends of the wire are united. Thisundesirable result is not only very annoytime and effort and theinconvenience'that was incident to releasing the-band for detachmentfromthe tube. H V

- In view of thefaboverecited-difiiculties that have been experienced intying tables as here having longitudinal slots so formed and shaped thatthere is no possibility of the tie'wire being. retained or caught in thetube incident to the threading or baling operation;

More specifically stated, the objects of the present invention are-to befound in the provision of a tying table with'wire guide tubesarranged'inthetopthereof for the passage of the baling wires beneath thebales and which tubes 7 are each equipped with a longitudinal open slotalong the top edge,- to-which slot the side walls of .the tube graduallyconverge in straight lines rather than in'a curve as in the prior use ofthe tube; these opposite side walls, which lead to the longitudinalslot, extending tangentially from the opposite sides of the tube at anangle of approximately 60 to each other. I

Other objects of the invention'reside in the details of construction andcombination of parts as will hereinafter be fully described. I

Inaccomplishing these and other objects of the invention, I haveprovided the improved details of construction, the preferred forms ofwhich are illustrated in the accompanying drawing,

- wherein- Fig. 1 is aside view of. a tying table embodying the presentinvention.

Fig. 2 is'a top view of'theitable.

Fig. 3' is an end eleva'tion'of the table.

Fig. 4is an enlarged cross sectional viewof a' wire guidetube','particularly showing the longitudinal slot and thewallsconverging to the slot.

legs 2 which, at their lower ends, are attached ing, but is also thecause of delays, waste of 55 to an anchored base structure 3. The tablemight be of the stationary type, or it might be of the turn table type.However, that is not of consequence to use of the present improvement.

Mounted on the table top, transversely thereon and in parallelrelationship, are conveyor rolls for the support of the bales during thetying operation and for easy conveyance of the bales onto and from thetable. Also, arranged transversely of the table top, at spacedintervals, are wire guide tubes 6, here shown to be three in number, andextending lengthwise of the table are two wire guide tubes, designatedby reference numerals 6 which are like the transverse tubes 6, but aremade in alined sections, spaced apart at their ends as required for theaccommodation of the transverse tubes, as is noted in Fig. 2.

As will be understood by reference to Fig. 2, the transverse tubes 6 arecontinuous, and are supported at their opposite ends between thevertical flanges of angle iron rails I which are fixed along oppositeside edges of the table top and mount the outer ends of certain of therolls 5 therein. These vertical flanges of the angle iron rails areformed with openings, as designated at8, in Fig. 1, whichregister withthe ends of the wireguide tubes 6, and there are slots 9 leadingupwardlyfrom the openings 8 to the top edges of the flanges for the passage ofthe wire bands, as will be presently understood, The longitudinallyextending wire guide tubes 6 are supported, as illustrated in Fig. 3, bymeans of legs or brackets I0 which are afiixed at their lower ends tothe table top.

Each of the tubes ,6 and 6' is of cylindrical n I2, in this instance, ismade only of such width as required for the passage of the-Wire bandtherethrough when it is drawn about the bale. Preferably, the baseportion of the tube is circularly curved and the'side walls wand 61) areflat and continue in planes that are tangential to the cylindrical body.

The tubes 6 and 6 as used in the table, are

supported rigidly somewhat below the plane of u the top surface of therolls 5, and the slots I2 all opendirectly upwardly-and each tube isopen at both ends. 5

The wire bands which are to be employed preferably are of the kind shownin Fig. 5; wherein the wire 26 is shown as being equipped at one endwith a helical coil 2| that is formed by bending an end portion of theband back upon itself and wrapping it spirally along the length of wireas shown. This'leaves a rounded end loop 22 at the forward end ofthe'band, which facilitates passing the wire through the guide tube. Thehelical coil' is of such'diameter that it cannot pass through the slot I2.

In use of the present table, equipped with the tubes 8 and 6' asdescribed, it will be understood that the material to be baled can bemoved onto the table top and there supported upon the rolls 5 for thebaling operation. The wire bands 20 which are to be employed in balingare projected lengthwise, with the helically coiled end forward, throughthe various tubes 6 and 6' and their opposite end portions then drawnupwardly along the sides and across the top of the bale, then about thebale and the ends secured together. When the wire bands are projectedthrough the tubes, the helical coils prevent the advancing ends frompassing into the slots I2 of the tube. Thus there is no possibility ofthe band catching on the bale material prior to the advanced end of thewire leaving the tube. After a band has been projected through a tube,it will be understood that when it is tightened, the inclined oppositeside walls 6a and 6b of the tube will guide that length of the wire thatis in the tube, directly to the's'lot I2 and-there will be nopossibility of its being caught or retained in any way by the edgeportions of the tube adjacent the slot.

It is not the intent that the present claims shall restrict theinvention in any way insofar as the character or use of the table isconcerned, or that it shall be; restricted by use only in tables inwhichthe supporting rolls for the bale are incorporated; it beingintended that the claims shall apply-broadly to the use of tubes of thepresent character: whether used in the specific structure heretoforeset'forth, or otherwise, so long as it is for the guiding of a wire ofthe present kind-beneath a bale or package to facilitate the bindingoperation.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a bale table of. the character described, a table top equipped forthe support of material to be baled, and a plurality of longitudinal andtransverse tubes mounted in the table top and crossing each other atdifferent levels, and open at their opposite ends; each for the passingof a wire band therethrough, and each having an open slot extendingalong the top side thereof from end to-endwith the 'tube walls atopposite sides of "the slot converging gradually along straight linestoward theslot; the upper tubes being transversely divided and thedivisions thereof slightly'spaced, providing vertical. passages that arealined with the slot of the corresponding lower tubes;

2. A baling table asset forth in claim 1 wherein spaced horizontalrollers are mounted transversely' on the table-for the support of a balethereon, and said transverse wire guide tubes are disposed intermediatesaid rolls and said longitudinal tubes are disposed beyond the endlimits of the rolls.

GEORGE E. LAMB.

